Anyone who has read my last article will know that Google Analytics 4 is the new star in the tracking firmament. The further development of the previous Universal Analytics (UA) standard is impressive in the area of data visualization, among other things.
Today we take a look at the new possibilities for analyzing user behavior and what is behind "funnel and path analyses".
Just missed the target? Funnel analyses find the error!
Funnel analyses can be used to understand how users interact during complex, multi-stage processes - for example, during registration or purchase processes. It is particularly important to recognize whether and at what point users bounce, i.e. leave the website. The process can then be optimized on this basis so that it is completed successfully more often.
GA4 enables a more customized compilation of funnels than the previous version UA: in addition to pages viewed, button clicks or downloads can now also be integrated into the funnel analysis, for example.
A funnel analysis in e-commerce can be based on the following steps:
If we were to recognize in this funnel analysis that 50% of users bounce at the beginning of the checkout process and therefore do not make a purchase, we could use GA4 to take a closer look at the checkout process. Defining funnel steps for the checkout process itself allows us to observe, for example, that many users bounce when selecting the payment method. A/B testing can then be used to track down the cause - perhaps it is due to the selection of payment methods or the placement of a button?
GA4 also makes it easy for us to differentiate between groups of users (segments) when analyzing process abandonment. For example, we can find out whether the end device used (mobile or desktop) plays a role.
GA4 has another plus point: Not only does it make user behavior comprehensible, it also classifies users into different groups according to their interaction. This makes it easy to define the users from my example, who have not completed the purchase process, as a suitable target group for targeting via Google Ads.
The funnel analysis with GA4 at a glance:
The new tracking tool makes it possible to
- visualize processes with up to 10 steps
- break down and filter funnel steps by dimensions (e.g. age, device type)
- create up to 4 segments and apply them to the funnel to compare different user groups (segments are user groups that fulfill certain criteria, e.g. desktop users, users from a specific country)
- create target groups based on funnel completions or cancellations
- and use target groups for targeting in Google Ads
Path analyses: Quo vadis, users?
Unlike funnel analyses, path analyses do not focus on previously defined steps, but only determine the end or starting point of user journeys. The focus here is therefore not on possible deviations or departures from the defined path, but on the individual paths of the users. These paths are visualized in a tree diagram.
This feature was already available in UA - but Google has also gone one better in terms of path analysis with GA4: While UA only allows you to set the starting point, user behavior in GA4 can also be analyzed from the destination. For example, it makes sense to define the addition of a product to the shopping basket as the end point if we want to know on which pages users have previously researched the product.
User-friendliness has also improved significantly. GA4 makes it easy to specify a start or end point without having to filter it out of a list of suggestions.
As with the funnel analysis, the individual steps in the path analysis can also be broken down and compared using dimensions such as device category or country, or filtered according to specific criteria in order to display only certain users.
On the right track with Google Analytics 4
With exploratory funnel and path analysis, GA4 therefore offers two powerful new functions for diving deep into the data and user behavior on websites. At antwerpes healthy media, we are happy to help you define the appropriate processes for funnel or path analyses, carry out the analyses and identify optimization potential on your website. In this way, we can unerringly improve the user experience and reliably increase the success of your website.
Are you still using Universal Analytics for tracking? We are also happy to support you with your upgrade to Google Analytics 4.
Please feel free to contact me:
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